Working on Long Term Back Pain

I've had an ongoing problem with back pain ever since a stupidly self-inflicted injury in my late teen years. The result was that I was taking some serious pain killers for about six months, and still have trouble sleeping through an entire night many years later. That may be coming to an end, though.

Several weeks back, I happened to be the only person who showed up for my yoga class. It's not a big class in the first place, and everybody else just ended up with something last minute happening. Rather than cancel, my teacher asked me if I was having trouble with anything specific, and I told her I had regular problems with back pain. She took me through a couple of poses to go after that problem in particular. At the time, I wasn't convinced that had been a good thing, because I had this nasty burning in my lower back by the end. I told my teacher that, and her response was that we'd probably really gotten into something that had been there for a while.

My back was then as bad as it's been since the original injury for about three days. I wasn't happy and was barely getting any sleep, but I also didn't call my teacher for help, in spite of my wife encouraging me to do so. I talked to her about it at my next class, and she suggested a couple of other poses I could work into my usual daily practice.

Here's the interesting part. After a couple of weeks of incorporating those other poses into my regular practice, I found myself walking and sitting differently, and sleeping through entire nights for the first time in ages. I had gotten rid of long term neck and shoulder pain after about two years of yoga, and this experience has turned out to be similar, though the process has been more subtle. It hasn't been a 100% solution, but I wouldn't expect one so quickly anyway. It'll be interesting to see if it turns out to be like the neck/shoulder problem, which has virtually disappeared over time except for occasional flare-ups due to stress.

Music Project - Second March Session

Yes, not one, but two music sessions this month, and both involving the same personnel (Sal, Jason, and I). Jason has really stepped up his playing, so the last time wasn't just one good session. As a team, I thought we were working together pretty well.

Sal still hadn't had much time to work on anything since the last session, but familiarity still helped, and we're getting better at figuring out how to coordinate things when they don't come together naturally.

"Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" remains our best song collectively, and we had a couple of fun surprises. "Hotel Yorba" from the White Stripes is back on the list and sounded especially good. "Science Fiction Double Feature" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show started as sort of a joke, but worked really well and has been officially added to the song list. Our list on the whole is a little too laid back in light of what we seem to do best together, which is corrected easily enough.

We still have some odd rhythmic issues to work out. Some of it is a lack of familiarity with each other or with the songs. When it was just Jason and I, it was easy to coordinate because there was only one other person to coordinate with. Maybe we got a little lazy about structure because if one of us messed up, all the other had to do was be alert enough to adjust accordingly. Hopefully a little more prep time going back to the source material will help.

We have a couple of other guitar players to bring in from jam sessions Jason has been having. Still no vocal help on the horizon, and I really have to figure out how to do something about that.

New In Nomine Scenario

My local GURPS Cabal campaign is now ready to go and scheduled to begin in late April, so I'm going to move my roleplaying focus over to the new In Nomine con scenario. As I'd expected, this one is turning out to be a relatively simple situation and location with a lot of interesting characters for the players to interact with, which is where the complexity comes in. This means creating a truckload of relatively detailed NPCs (not to mention keeping track of them all when I run this), but since that's my idea of fun, I don't mind at all.

I'm using a real life location from my musical experiences in Philadelphia, renamed, transplanted to Chicago and slightly modified to make things easier for gaming purposes. Several of the characters are based on real people. Not only does that make it faster and easier to write, it also makes the characters feel more real and helps me to improvise details if the players manage to surprise me in some respect or another.

The tricky part of this one is proving to be making the climax actually feel climactic, since the ultimate objective of the scenario is kind of low key. I have some ideas about how to do that, but I don't think I can be sure that it'll work until I playtest. I have to playtest this one and "Room Service" by sometime in June to allow time for any necessary modifications. Sounds like a lot of time, but it's really not, considering everything else I have tying up my weekends these days.

Return of the Music Project

I knew it had been a while since we'd gotten together, but hadn't realized it had been quite so long. In addition to the usual Jason and I, we had Sal, the guitarist I'd first met a couple of months ago.

Jason was really on this time. I talked to him about it afterward, and he felt the long break had done him good. It certainly sounded that way.

The session worked out well, for the most part. There was relatively good chemistry between the three of us, with a demonstrated willingness all around to try anything, which is something I'd hoped to see on a regular basis on this project. There were some rhythmic glitches here and there, which I think had more to do with a lack of familiarity with each other and with some of the songs than it did with anything else.

Sal did a nice job on the songs where he'd done his homework. The soloing on "Keep On Rockin' in the Free World" was impressive enough to catch both Jason and I by surprise. I caught him suddenly turning to look at Sal at exactly the same time I did. He played well enough on the material he hadn't practiced, but unsurprisingly, there was a marked difference in performance between the two. Two of my old bandmates from years ago (and two separate bands) could sit in with anybody and sound as though they'd rehearsed with the band for months, so I'm afraid they spoiled me in that respect. I tend to forget that not everybody can do that.

I was able to spend most of the session on bass, though I moved to guitar here and there to show Sal particular things on songs he hadn't played before. I was still handling all of the vocals. Sal has told me he loves to sing but isn't good at it. I know he's not comfortable enough to try it yet, but I get the sense that he could be persuaded in time. I don't care if he's especially good; I'd just like to get a break from time to time and even sing some harmony, and I'm sure he'd get better with practice if he can sing at all. I'm having trouble speaking today after singing so much yesterday.

Sal has a strong preference for playing with a second guitar player. That's fine, since we're looking to bring in more people anyway. Jason knows a couple of possibilities from his jam sessions that haven't included me, so we'll check 'em out as they become available and we'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to playing another session with Sal with less rust and better preparation all around.

One of the issues raised by Sal that I hadn't really considered was the potential difficulty involved in a rotating line-up with multiple guitarists. If, for the sake of argument, we had three guitarists involved with two playing each session and rotating attendance, who plays which solos? I'd thought we could just wing that depending on who is there on the day, but it's really not that simple for solos that require some real preparation. I suppose we'll cross that bridge if/when we get to it, since we've had trouble finding even one regular guitarist.

On a side note, our previous repeat guitarist Rob achieved his goal of joining a full fledged band that plays out, so I doubt he'll be turning up with us again. Jason and I will probably go to see them in a couple of weeks. I wasn't terribly impressed by what I heard of them from their website, but live recordings tend to be dodgy and probably aren't doing them justice.

Intertwining Cabal Campaigns

I've been working on my local GURPS Cabal campaign for the last week or so, with some progress. I have the big pieces in place; I'm just trying to refine some details for the first session or two so it'll be truly ready to go. I'm not going to try to plan too much detail from there because players always find ways to derail any plan that's too specific.

One of the interesting aspects of this local campaign is that I'm planning on interweaving it with the ongoing GURPS Cabal series of convention scenarios in the same setting. The two PC teams will be operating out of the same lodge and interacting with most of the same NPCs, plus each other as NPCs, adding depth to both sets of sessions. I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of effect this has and how long I can maintain it without serious continuity glitches.

Pandorum

This movie turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I'd rented it largely because my wife enjoys movies with monsters, and this one qualified.

The story begins with a couple of members of the crew of a spaceship unexpectedly awakening from long term hypersleep. The process causes them to have short term problems remembering things, though those problems fade in time. They quickly figure out that something must have gone wrong, as most of the power is off and the ship is populated by ultra fast/strong monsters that eat literally anything that moves. As the crew tries to restore power and figure out what happened, some surprises unfold. It's really best if you don't know more than that going in.

Some elements are fairly obvious, such as where the monsters came from, and I'd expected that most of the plot twists would turn out to be not-so-twisty, as usual. However, they truly surprised me several times. The first surprise, for example, was the presence of someone who was clearly a member of the crew, yet spoke no language in common with the awakened crewmen. I liked that they never really did explain him in the course of the story, as I figured it out for myself and there was no real reason for anyone to explain it that wouldn't have felt like obvious exposition. There are a few relatively minor logic problems with the story, and I started getting a little tired of the monsters' jerky movements after a while, but overall this was better-than-usual genre fare. I found two other movies on Netflix with the same director, and added them both to my list, which I think says it all. Recommended if you like science fiction and keep your expectations modest.

Creative Updates

Yet another music project session bit the dust this weekend, this time due to snow related injury. Grrr. The female singer is definitely out due to personal issues that emerged in her life. The guitar player I'd gotten together with on one occasion remains a possibility, as well as another guitar player that Jason found. And so it goes...

I've written another verse of one of the songs I'd been working on. Songwriting has to take a back seat to RPG writing, at least for a while, since I'm running out of time to get a second new event ready for DexCon and I'd like to get my local Cabal campaign going as promised.

The new In Nomine idea still needs a lot of work, but it's the sort of work I like to do (mainly writing character backgrounds for NPCs), so I doubt that's going to be a problem.

For the last couple of days, the main creative project has been the local Cabal campaign. I finally figured out whodunnit for the murder mystery that will be one of the main story arcs of the campaign, and a lot of other things will fall into place from there. I don't need too many specifics, as the players would derail any but the most general of plans anyway, but some things really have to be in place from the beginning, or the campaign won't hang together.

I'll jump back and forth between the con scenario and the local campaign as inspiration takes me for the next week or so, and see how that goes.

Holy Mother of God and All Her Wacky Nephews!

We've had a major snowstorm here, on top of a big one last weekend. I don't know exact measurements, but I can give you a reference point. We have a walkway leading up to the house with a support railing installed by the previous owner. The cumulative effect of the two storms is that the railing is just visible by maybe two inches over top of the snow.

My wife's employer was closed, but mine wasn't, so she dug out the end of the driveway (about four inches of snow overnight) while I finished getting ready for work, then off to work I went in spite of my better judgement. I was nearly broadsided thirty seconds later by a guy in a jeep running a stop sign that he clearly had no intention of even slowing down for until the last second. If I hadn't been paying more attention and stopped myself, he would have hit me directly in the driver's door. He looked at me, shrugged his shoulders as a sort of apology, then continued on this way.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip was tricky but less eventful. About a third to a half of our work force made it. Snow continued to be heavy, and ultimately they allowed us to leave after being at work for about an hour and a half. The trip back was much the same as the trip in, though the guy in front of me at one point was clearly having trouble seeing the road and nearly drove off it a number of times. The street where I live hadn't been plowed, and my car could barely travel it. If I'd left work just a little later, the result wouldn't have been good. It's going to be tough digging out tomorrow morning, but I'll deal with that when it comes.

So I had most of today unexpectedly to myself, and worked on the music for the Jean Grey song, among other things. I don't expect to get to work anywhere near on time tomorrow, but I do expect to get there. It could be a tough day, depending on how many of us turn up and how many people like me were crazy enough to go out today and actually did have accidents.

"It Might Get Loud" and Musical Inspiration

I had a music project session scheduled this past Saturday involving a new singer and a new guitarist, but obviously that didn't happen because travel wasn't much of an option. I practiced on bass and guitar today (I usually do one or the other), but it's just not as much fun as playing with other people. Sigh...

I've recently written a parody song about General Grievous from the Star Wars prequels, a verse and chorus of an original song about Jean Grey (from the X-Men), and a chorus for another Star Wars parody song (Episode IV that time). I wasn't really working on this stuff; it just started coming when my wife suggested the basic idea of the General Grievous song and I couldn't resist finishing it. If enough of this keeps coming, I may have to dip a toe into the world of filk music and see if it's enough fun to keep up. I'd love to do some Lovecraftian parody at some point if I can come up with the right idea.

I watched a documentary called "It Might Get Loud" this past week, which was about the famous guitarists Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), the Edge (U2), and Jack White (White Stripes and other projects). I'm not a hardcore guitar guy per se, but felt very inspired afterward. I'm not a particular fan of any of the three, but the Edge unexpectedly impressed me. It wasn't his playing; it was his approach to music. He seemed genuinely interested in what the other two were playing (far more so than the others, though they were all reasonably appreciative of each others' skills), and humble about his musical limits. Jimmy Page is one of the most fluid players I've ever seen; it's as though he's barely trying, and everything sounds great. Jack White had a studious approach to playing that I quite liked at the same time that his stage performances completely abandoned that studiousness in favor of raw feeling. It was a strange contrast seeing both in the same man. Recommended if you have any interest in music and the people who make it.

We All Seem to be Playing Something Different

I was doing some general internet surfing regarding roleplaying games this past week as well, and did some thinking on the subject. Popularity of the form in general seems to have continued to fall off steeply. I've heard from many sources that the future of the roleplaying market is PDFs, and I'm ultimately okay with that, though I'm old fashioned and still have a preference for physical books, given a choice. The real problem is the old critical mass question regarding quality GMs and players. It takes good GMs to create and maintain player interest, and it takes entertaining players to keep GMs interested in continuing. Where are those quality GMs and players going to come from when the player base is shrinking? Some of my favorite players no longer turn up at conventions, and a few of those told me the last time I'd seen them that the one or two good sessions they experienced each convention just weren't worth the three or four that weren't very good. Two of the best GMs I've ever seen don't run RPGs (at least not at conventions) anymore. I don't see the hobby going away entirely, but I could see it shrinking to the point where the participants are the same familiar faces at the same regional conventions, year after year.

The balkanized nature of roleplaying interests (and strong opinions associated with that fracturing) isn't helping, and I think that will have to change in some way as the market gets smaller. Once upon a time, if you were a roleplayer, you played D&D, and maybe one other game, two if you were adventurous. Now we all seem to playing something different and reluctant to reach across the breach due to increasingly strong personal tastes.

As for myself, I'll continue to GM as long as scenario writing keeps my creative interest and people keep showing up to play. But I don't see myself trying to write ahead the way I used to. I'll maintain my two con scenarios a year and probably a local campaign if there's interest, then put the rest of my creative energy elsewhere.